Husks
by RifftraxFan1
Summary: They're not living. They just roam, and eat. They outnumber us. All we can do is survive.
1. Prologue

The Princess never would have guessed it. She couldn't have guessed it. Heck... I don't know anypony could. It just... Happened. There was no evidence... No past cases... No warning... Nothing... What happened to Equestria had never happened in it's history. Few who saw the beginning now roam the empty towns. The forsaken castles. Many towns that were once filled with music, dancing, and life... Now lie crumbling into oblivion as the dead roam their streets...

My name is Dusk. I can't remember my second name, just Dusk. I never cared for my second name. It was my father's. He was abusive and controlling, and I hated him. As such, I wanted nothing to do with him. Especially not his name. So I abandoned it. I just pretended to forget it, until one day I actually couldn't remember it. I didn't care though.

After running away from home, I wandered around Equestria. I never settled down anywhere. I didn't want a home. you may think that's strange, but I don't care. I didn't want one. The only time I ever considered it was just before the outbreak, and of course... Afterwards... I lost any ideas of it.

The outbreak was a nightmare come to life. They never rested, never gave up, and were never satisfied. They ran through Equestria like locusts, eating up anything and anypony they could get their hooves on. You're probably wondering how it got started. How they first came to be. It was a curse. One placed long ago by Sombra. As such... It began in The Crystal Empire. Slowly, it spread like wild fire, slowly corrupting and overcoming everything in its path.

Some important figures got out okay. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, all of them were fine. Shining Armor? He wasn't so lucky. Captain of the Guard, trained to stand against any threat. Funny he was one of the first to go. They say he died protecting his wife. Was it true? I don't know. Wouldn't even care about the guy if I didn't know her. Even then, I felt sorry for her. Not him.

Like I said, I used to wander all the time. Now it actually makes sense. My group and I have been through three towns in ten days. Everypony's a wanderer now. That just makes it worse. Most survivors are sane, level headed, and reasonable. But not everypony. Some have turned to cannibalism. Some are insane, some untrusting, some paranoid, you name it. There's a little of everything.

I travel with a group of five. Red Moon was a former engineer, so he's good to keep around. Vanilla Ray used to be an elementary school teacher, she's somewhat less useful. The two of them are a couple, and they had a kid on the way. What did I think of that? The kid's a liability. I don't want to get rid of it though. Everypony deserves a chance in the world. I'll just deal with it. Jay Brick used to be a Royal Guard, so as you can imagine, he's the leader of the group. Finally, Twilight Sparkle was the protégée of Princess Celestia herself, and ran a library prior to the outbreak.

I already told you I did nothing. I just wandered. Thankfully, that actually made me valuable to my group. I knew Equestria like the back of my hoof. I was the one who kept us on a safe path. I guess some good came out of my abusive home. Not much though. Of course, in an apocalypse, I guess anything helps.

My group had just arrived in Hoofington. It was abandoned, and the only indication that there had ever been any life here were the undead husks wandering the streets. We were hiding out in an old library until we could move through. No telling how long that will take.


	2. Hiding Out

_"Wake up!" Somepony shouted at me. I could only groan. Never had I experienced such pain. It felt as though I was slowly being turned inside out... _

_"These things aren't going to wait around for us! They're coming! WAKE UP!" I heard again. The dead... Even at those words... I couldn't move... I desperately tried to do anything... Open an eye... Make my limb twitch... Anything... Why couldn't I move... I could hear them groan... And... Somepony was screaming..._

* * *

I scoffed at that memory as I looked out of one of the windows. The dead were still patrolling the streets. Their bodies had large chunks of flesh missing, with dried blood staining the outside of them. That day was the first time I came into contact with the dead. One of the first days of the outbreak. Back then, most ponies were hopeful. Some even stayed in their homes, thinking this would all blow over. It didn't, needless to say. I'm pretty sure most of them have increased the dead's numbers.

"Dusk. Get away from the window." I heard. Looking behind me, I could see Brick handing a water bottle to Moon, who was standing beside a sleeping Ray. The blue coated stallion was gently playing with the mare's blonde mane. I shook my head and walked away from the window. Looking over to Brick, I could see him walking towards me, his buzz cut black mane completely contrasting his snow white coat. I myself sported a purple coat and a short orange mane that covered one of my eyes. Brick gently pulled me further from the window, and released me when he saw it fit.

"Listen, I get that this isn't exactly the best of places to be in, but you can't be checking the window every five minutes. We have to wait this out, and be patient." He said calmly as I heard one of the dead moan one of it's unnatural sounds. Looking back over to the window, I let Brick keep talking.

"Those things are persistent, but they can't stay here forever. Just give them time." He finished, afterwards asking if I had heard him. I simply looked at him and nodded. I wasn't much of a talker. Mostly because I refused to open up to anypony. Even my own mother when I still lived at home. I didn't really care for her because she would just let my father beat me, and she never did anything about it. I don't care what defense she had, I was her child, and you're supposed to protect your child.

The room we were in wasn't necessarily a bad spot, but it was completely empty. It had been completely ransacked. Any food, blankets, water, or anything else that might have been useful were gone. Only a couple of tables and mattresses lined the interior of the otherwise empty building. Twilight was at one of these tables, reading some book she had found. That was the only thing anypony hadn't taken. Books. I understood why, not much use of them when you're running away from the dead. Guess that didn't matter much to Twilight, she had packed numerous books with her.

Going into a corner, I laid my chin on my front hooves as I softly laid myself down, using my tail to cover what parts of my body I could. Not the best blanket one could get, but I would take it. I let my mind wander... Drifting into memories that I didn't much care for or want to remember. Might as well be occupied by something. Even if it is a bad memory.

* * *

_My body ached as I felt his next blow hit me. His hooves were thick and heavy, making each hit more painful then the last. I refused to cry though. Weakness was what he wanted. That way he could use it to shape me. To mold me. I had seen him do that to mom, and I wasn't going to let him make me his perfect vision too. My eye throbbed as he picked me up by my throat and glared at me angrily. _

_"You will respect your father! YOU HEAR ME?" He yelled as he belted me across the face again. Looking at my father, I could read the fury in his eyes like a novel. It was loud and clear. But I didn't care. Maybe it was part of me being an Earth Pony, which are naturally stubborn. Or just because I didn't respect my father, like he said I didn't. Either way, I wasn't going to listen to him._

_I just let him hit me as mom just watched from the kitchen, shaking her head as she frowned at my father._

* * *

Sighing, I looked up to Brick again, who was making his way over to Twilight, apparently wanting to talk to her. I didn't care much to listen to them, so I got up and began to walk. I was going to the other end of the room. Beatings like that weren't uncommon. Heck... I was LUCKY if I only had one per week. Some weren't that bad, and would just be a punch on the arm when I refused to respond to him. Still... Most of my injuries never healed until I decided to run away.

"Dusk..." I heard Moon say from the side. Looking his direction, I could see him comforting a now awake Ray, who was gritting her teeth with a sad expression. It was clear that she was in pain, most likely from the baby in her womb. I guess it's good we weren't on the move. That could have cost us one of our lives.

"I need you to do something for me... " He said quietly as he nuzzled his nose into his partner's mane. She sniffed and made a quiet cry, as she adjusted her head to rest on his foreleg. Moon knelt down and placed his head down, allowing her to rest her head on his neck.

"What is it?" I asked. Looking over to me, he motioned over to Brick, who was still discussing something with Twilight.

"Can you get a blanket from Jay for Vanilla please? I really don't want to leave her side." He said as he now laid beside her, kissing her gently on her cheek.

"Sure." I responded. I moved back over to Brick, still looking at Ray as she began to produce small tears from her eyes. This carriage was particularly rough for her, and I didn't know why. I wasn't a doctor for a reason. Upon reaching Brick, I heard what he and Twilight were talking about. He was planning on moving at night, since that was when it was easiest to not be seen. I shook my head as I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Two things. One, I need a blanket for Ray, and two, have you forgotten that we're running low on flashlights?" I asked as he turned to face me. Brick glared at me, I could tell he wasn't glad I had heard him.

"Dusk... These things can't see as well at night, so..." Twilight cut him off, finishing his sentence for him.

"We would be able to get out of town more quickly. It's a lot safer than going out in broad daylight." She said. Brick nodded and thanked Twilight.

"We're limiting the group to one flashlight carrier now, so we won't have to worry about running out of battery life anytime soon. We have three, so we should be fine." He said as he walked closer to me. Placing a hoof on my shoulder, he told me to calm down, and to trust him. I sighed and gently shoved his hoof off of my shoulder, to which he gave me a harsh look.

"Blankets are in the saddlebag next to the door. Just grab one, I don't want to be packing up for an hour when we set out." He said as he turned back to Twilight. I opened my mouth to talk back, but closed it when I realized he had his mind set on this. I didn't think this was a good idea. Avoiding them in the daytime was hard enough, I didn't really care much for watching out for them in the night.

Shaking my head, I walked over to the door and grabbed the blue saddlebag next to it, which contained a stitched portrayal of a book. Opening it, I found several neatly folded blankets, most only big enough for a single pony. Grabbing a yellow one at the top of the bag, I closed the saddlebag and began walking over to Ray and Moon again. When I got over to them, Moon smiled and grabbed the blanket from me.

"Thank you." He said as he gently covered up Ray, who was now soundly asleep on the ground. Her green coat was slowly covered by the blanket, save for her head and front foreleg. After covering her up, Moon laid back down next to her, cuddling next to her closely.

"You think she'll be okay to move by nightfall?" I asked. Moon looked over to me, his eyes carrying confusion.

"I think so... why?" He asked. I motioned my head over to Brick, and explained what he was planning on doing. Moon grimaced and looked back down at his sleeping fillyfriend, who was now resting her head against his chest. I could already tell he was concerned about this.

"Is that really a good idea? Won't the dead still be roaming the streets?" He asked as he looked back at me. I nodded. I wasn't one to sugarcoat things, something most didn't like about me.

"Most likely. Brick's counting on them moving to another part of the city." I replied. Moon was about to speak again, but I spoke first.

"Why don't you get some rest? We're going no matter what any of us say. You'll need your strength." I said. Truth be told, I wasn't exactly holding out well, but I was used to being sleepless. There weren't many comfortable places to sleep on the streets. Moon looked from me to Ray a few times before nodding, and recommending I do the same. I just walked back to the window, and watched the dead roam around some more.

I didn't care if Brick got mad at me. I wanted to see what we were getting ourselves into. Judging from how many I saw walking out there, we were in a bad situation.


End file.
